[For those readers who are sensitive, I'm going to be talking about hunting for and butchering meat. I won't be offended if you decide to skip reading this post.]
I just bought my first gun last week. I'm sure I'm on a list at every government agency by now, but I'm not so concerned with the political ramifications of my decision. Those of you who know me will agree that I am not a violent person, so you might be wondering how I became a hunter. The simple answer is that I don't consider hunting for food as violence.
OK, you caught me, I'm not really a hunter yet. I've never fired a gun at a live target. So, please allow me to backup so I can explain the basis of my opinion.
Living this life, an hour from town and off-grid, has instilled a certain sense of self sufficiency in us. We learned early on that most professionals (electricians, plumbers, etc) don't really want to drive this far for a job. So, I became my own electrician, my own plumber, and my own etc. Christie has a garden every year, and its bounty (meager though it is) fills us with pride. Our chickens have also been producing enough eggs for our needs for a couple of years. It isn't a big step from there to consider raising some animals for food. Besides, we could hardly do worse than AgriBusiness with their feedlots, growth hormones, and mad-cow disease.
We have a few neighbors who are already raising some of their own food, so we talked to them, read books and magazines, and Googled until we felt we knew enough to get started. We acquired some meat rabbits (Florida Whites) and decided that some of the 40 chicks we had this spring would be eaten. Up to this point the biggest thing I'd ever killed intentionally was a grasshopper, however, the only way I was going to learn was by doing.
So, we invited the neighbors over for dinner. We decided to slaughter two rabbits for the meal, they would demonstrate on one and I would do the other. I won't go into all of the gory details, but one thing I noticed was how personal it was. When you cut the rabbit's throat, it bleeds on your hands and shoes. This was nothing like going to the store buying a pack hamburger patties. What's more, the very personal nature of this method felt right. I'm not turning into a blood crazed lunatic, I'm just saying that the hands-on approach gives you a very different understanding of the circle of life.
I have since slaughtered, butchered, and dressed chickens, geese, turkeys, and more rabbits without any trouble. The one rule I always try to work by is this: be quick, and make sure this animal isn't suffering longer than is absolutely necessary.
Now here is where my logic gets a little fuzzy, but I'll see if I can explain. I feel I am ready to hunt with a rifle, to reach out and kill from a distance, because I am willing and able to do it with own two hands. I see the hunting rifle as an extension of my arm, rather than an instrument of destruction. It is just a much longer knife.
Now, as I am so inclined, I did a lot of research on rifles before making a purchase. I wanted to make sure it was a weapon Christie and I could both use safely. It needed to be capable of handling predators (coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, and possibly bear) as well as game animals (deer and elk for now). Since I am left-handed, and Christie is right-handed, a bolt-action was out of the question. Also, I wanted to make sure I followed my rule. In order to be quick and make sure the animal doesn't suffer, I decided on a 30-.06.
So, my first gun is a Browning Lighting BLR 30-.06, a lever-action rifle with right-side eject and 4 round clip. We put a Bushnell ELITE 3200 scope on it. I can already see that this could get to be an expensive hobby because we still need a case and shoulder strap, not to mention that the shells are about $1 each! All I can say is that I'm looking forward to saving money at the meat counter.
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4 comments:
ew, Ew, EW I hate guns!
But I have the utmost respect for both you and Christie, and I know that you wouldn't come to such a decision lightly, so I will congratulate you on your new purchase and your decision to find your own food. In some strange way I think I get it, but only because it's you.
But now Jay is going to read this and all the hard work I've put in to convincing him that I won't eat something that was just walking around in my backyard is going to go out the window.
Thanks, man.
Be strong, be steadfast, never falter in your conviction not to eat anything you don't want to.
We still don't eay any of the critters with names. Although, I think Oliver will make a nice Easter Dinner some year... ;)
And Jay, be patient, it took over 2 years for Christie to say "maybe, someday, I could eat our animals."
DAVE! I simply cannot imagine this scene - with you in it as the main character. I feel as though I am reading fiction.
I respect that you have gone to the basics. Even if it does give me the willies to imagine my best friend slitting the throat of a cuddly rabbit (I have two now).
-andy
Now that you mention it, I think this is something I have always wanted to do. For sure, I wanted to raise my own food and be as self-sufficient as possible, but I also believe in hunting for food, simply because we humans have killed off so many of the predators, that deer and elk populations are up and out of control. We need to do some hunting to restore the balance. The solution to the problem may actually be to restore the wolf, the bear and the mountain lion to habitats where they formerly roamed freely. Try to convince the ranchers of that, though!
In the past, we thought that killing wolves would cause the population of our favored food animals to grow. That has been shown to be faulty logic. There are more deer and elk, but hunters are likely to come home with a deer or elk suffering from chronic wasting disease--the wild equivalent of mad cow disease. Wolves used to keep these sick animals culled. Please be careful, will you, son? Read up on it so you can recognize the disease in the animals you bring home.
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